The ADM and Bondi mass for the RST model have been first discussed from Hawking and Horowitz's argument. Since there is a nonlocal term in the RST model, the RST lagrangian has to be localized so that Hawking and Horowitz's proposal can be carried out. Expressing the localized RST action in terms of the ADM formulation, the RST Hamiltonian can be derived, meanwhile keeping track of all boundary terms. Then the total boundary terms can be taken as the total energy for the RST model. Our result shows that the previous expression for the ADM and Bondi mass actually needs to be modified at quantum level, but at classical level, our mass formula can be reduced to that given by Bilal and Kogan [5] and de Alwis [6]. It has been found that there is a new contribution to the ADM and Bondi mass from the RST boundary due to the existence of the hidden dynamical field. The ADM and Bondi mass with and without the RST boundary for the static and dynamical solutions have been discussed respectively in detail, and some new properties have been found. The thunderpop of the RST model has also been encountered in our new Bondi mass formula.

The RST model is augmented by the addition of a scalar field and a boundary term so that it is well-posed and local. Expressing the RST action in terms of the ADM formulation, the constraint structure can be analysed completely. It is shown that from the view point of local field theories, there exists a hidden dynamical field 1 in the RST model. Thanks to the presence of this hidden dynamical field, we can reconstruct the closed algebra of the constraints which guarantee the general invariance of the RST action. The resulting stress tensors TSigma Sigma are recovered to be true tensor quantities. Especially, the part of the stress tensors for the hidden dynamical field 1 gives the precise expression for tSigma . At the quantum level, the cancellation condition for the total central charge is reexamined. Finally, with the help of the hidden dynamical field 1, the fact that the semi-classical static soluti on of the RST model has two independent parameters (P,M), whereas for the classical CGHS model there is only one, can be explained.

Abstract: It has recently been shown that the equation of motion of a massless scalar field in the background of some specific p branes can be reduced to a modified Mathieu equation. In the following the absorption rate of the scalar by a D3 brane in ten dimensions is calculated in terms of modified Mathieu functions of the first kind, using standard Mathieu coefficients. The relation of the latter to Dougall coefficients (used by others) is investigated. The S-matrix obtained in terms of modified Mathieu functions of the first kind is easily evaluated if known rapidly convergent low energy expansions of these in terms of products of Bessel functions are used. Leading order terms, including the interesting logarithmic contributions, can be obtained analytically.

Starting from the coherent state representation of the evolution operator with the help of the path-integral, we derive a formula for the low-lying levels E = ffl0 Gamma 24ffl cos(s + ,)ss of a quantum spin system. The quenching of macroscopic quantum coherence is understood as the vanishing of cos(s + ,)ss in disagreement with the suppression of tunneling (i.e. 4ffl = 0) as claimed in the literature. A new configuration called the macroscopic Fermi-particle is suggested by the character of its wave function. The tunne- ling rate ( 24fflss ) does not vanish, not for integer spin s nor for a half-integer value of s, and is calculated explicitly (for the position dependent mass) up to the one-loop approximation.

A new approach with BRST invariance is suggested to cure the degeneracy problem of ill defined path integrals in the path- integral calculation of quantum mechanical tunneling effects in which the problem arises due to the occurrence of zero modes. The Faddeev-Popov procedure is avoided and the integral over the zero mode is transformed in a systematic way into a well defined integral over instanton positions. No special procedure has to be adopted as in the Faddeev-Popov method in calculating the Jacobian of the transformation. The quantum mechanical tunneling for the Sine-Gordon potential is used as a test of the method and the width of the lowest energy band is obtained in exact agreement with that of WKB calculations.

The tunneling splitting of the energy levels of a ferromagnetic particle in the presence of an applied magnetic field - previously derived only for the ground state with the path integral method - is obtained in a simple way from Schr"odinger theory. The origin of the factors entering the result is clearly understood, in particular the effect of the asymmetry of the barriers of the potential. The method should appeal particularly to experimentalists searching for evidence of macroscopic spin tunneling.

The greybody factors in BTZ black holes are evaluated from 2D CFT in the spirit of AdS3/CFT correspondence. The initial state of black holes in the usual calculation of greybody factors by effective CFT is described as Poincar'e vacuum state in 2D CFT. The normalization factor which cannot be fixed in the effective CFT without appealing to string theory is shown to be determined by the normalized bulk-to-boundary Green function. The relation among the greybody factors in different dimensional black holes is exhibited. Two kinds of (h; _h) = (1; 1) operators which couple with the boundary value of massless scalar field are discussed.

Abstract: Standard methods of nonlinear dynamics are used to investigate the stability of particles, branes and D-branes of abelian Born-Infeld theory. In particular the equation of small fluctuations about the D-brane is derived and converted into a modified Mathieu equation and - complementing earlier low-energy investigations in the case of the dilaton-axion system - studied in the high-energy domain. Explicit expressions are derived for the S-matrix and absorption and reflection amplitudes of the scalar fluctuation in the presence of the D-brane. The results confirm physical expectations and numerical studies of others. With the derivation and use of the (hitherto practically unknown) high energy expansion of the Floquet exponent our considerations also close a gap in earlier treatments of the Mathieu equation.

The pure-Skyrme limit of a scale-breaking Skyrmed O(3) sigma model in 1+1 dimensions is employed to study the effect of the Skyrme term on the semiclassical analysis of a field theory with instantons. The instantons of this model are self-dual and can be evaluated explicitly. They are also localised to an absolute scale, and their fluctuation action can be reduced to a scalar subsystem. This permits the explicit calculation of the fluctuation determinant and the shift in vacuum energy due to instantons. The model also illustrates the semiclassical quantisation of a Skyrmed field theory.